What does the research report mean for adoption cases?

Interest groups of Dutch adoptees are satisfied with the report of the Joustra Committee presented today. That committee concluded that international adoptions as currently organized can no longer take place.

"There have been many abuses in the past, but the adoption system is still susceptible to fraud and abuses continue to this day", said committee chairman Tjibbe Joustra. The government has temporarily halted all adoptions .

Many adoptees have been looking for their biological family for years and encounter all kinds of abuses and shady adoption practices. It is therefore often impossible to find out what the real reason for their adoption was and whether it was legal. For Chamila Seppenwoolde of United Adoptees International, the conclusions are not new: "We have been denouncing abuses for years." She thinks the temporary stop on adoptions should be a permanent one. "Because apologizing means not only saying sorry, but also not going to do it again."

Judy Aubrain of Plan Kiskeya from Haiti supports the conclusions of the Joustra committee and appreciates the government's apologies. "That is a great recognition for many adoptees and families in Haiti," said Aubrain.

It is not the first time that a critical report on adoptions has appeared. In 2016, the Council for the Application of Criminal Law and Youth Protection also came to the conclusion that it would be better to stop international adoptions. Much attention has also been paid in the media to shady adoption practices. Already in 2007 made network a story about stolen children from India. Zembla made several broadcasts about adoption fraud and Nieuwsuur paid attention to shady adoptions a number of times . Since the late 1960s, approximately 40,000 children have come to the Netherlands. In 2019 there were 145, mainly from Hungary and China.

Lawyer Lisa Marie Komp is conducting two proceedings against the State on behalf of adoptees from Sri Lanka and Brazil. One of the first consequences of the report is that the State will no longer invoke prescription. "In all cases that I have conducted up to now, prescription is always used immediately. The State was not willing to enter into a discussion and let it come to a procedure in which the content was not even considered. That is why I find it very remarkable and positive that this argument will no longer be made. " The statute of limitations (20 years) often means that a case will not be dealt with in substance because the adoption took place more than 20 years ago.

With this report in hand, Komp thinks she will be firmer in the two lawsuits she has pending. "This is a confirmation of our conclusions that it is not right. Based on the information that is there, you have to conclude: the abuses were there and they were serious. And the government knew about it. At best, they did nothing, true. They should have, in the worst case scenario they cooperated. "

Compensation Scheme

The lawyer believes that the publication of the report also calls for reflection on how the State has acted so far. "We have to ask ourselves, do we all want separate proceedings on adoptions? I think the State should now reach its conclusions, talk to people who have suffered harm, and settle for damages without legal action."

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An individual budget for adoptees to search for their families is necessary.

Judy Aubrain, former Chairman of Plan Kiskeya Haiti

Seppenwoolde and Aubrain both argue for (financial) support by the government for adoptees' quests for biological families. "More is needed than acknowledgment and apology," Aubrain says. "An individual budget for adoptees to be able to search is necessary." Seppenwoolde already drew up a plan together with other interest groups in 2018 for help with searches, but also free name changes and revocation of adoptions. "We believe there should be generous compensation for every adoptee."

Minister of Legal Protection Dekker has adopted all conclusions of the committee and has therefore temporarily halted international adoptions. Whether this will lead to a definitive end to international adoptions is up to the next cabinet.

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